MUMMY TO THE MAX

As I have previously stated in my past posts I'm a serial couponer!
I started couponing when I fell pregnant with Maxwell as I knew money would be tight - especially on our grocery shopping and other things such as nappies and other baby products!
I scourer the internet using Money Saving Expert Threads and also a great website called BeforeIShop! On both these websites you can find "printable vouchers" however to save ink when printing, there is normally a little link at the bottom of the voucher saying "Don't have a printer". I always click this and then get the voucher sent directly to my house! If this option is not available I just send a quick email to the company asking if I could perhaps have a voucher sent to me. I normally find their address on their website under contact us - 9/10 they always send me a voucher!
Another great way of getting coupons is joining things such as baby clubs - Tesco, Boots, Hipp Organic and Aptamil are my main favourites as they send coupons regularly.
The internet is also a great place to shop and when I do shop online I always search the net for vouchers that perhaps give me 10% off or free delivery. If I can't find a voucher and think I can wait to buy the product I sometimes wait! At Christmas I did all my shopping online as a lot of retailers had great deals on. As it's £7 return on the bus sometimes shopping online can save money as well as time!
When I use my vouchers I work out the best deal and the cheapest price I can buy the product at!
Each week I manage to save around £10 on my shopping! The picture shown is a few days worth of  coupons collected for this week!
My next favourite of saving money is entering competitions!
This picture is showing  my wins this week!
Seeing as it is only mid-week I am doing well and I have plenty more prizes coming in the post- I will upload a picture at the end of the week when I receive them!
I enter competitions all over the web and can spend a few hours doing it a day (mainly when Maxwell is in bed).
The Tropicana and Mr Kipling cakes came from Facebook. I won vouchers and simply took them to my local supermarket and redeemed the products!
I love winning things for Maxwell - most things I win for him go into my present box for him for his Christmas and Birthday!
I also recently won a £50 cake voucher to buy a designer cake with so this will also go towards his birthday! Seeing as it's my birthday the day after we may have to share the cake.


I recently have been looking on the internet for freebies. I have joined many websites that email me daily telling me about freebies that I can get! I love little samples and have got a box that comes in handy now and again, or I give them to family when they go away on their holidays!
This week I have received a toothbrush for Maxsdll as well as a soft toy for him. Also a cake mix with a small recipe and a small sample of perfume!
The samples of perfume always come in handy on a night out as they are great at fitting in a small handbag!
I am also awaiting samples in the post of shampoo, nail and hand cream and more perfume!
Sometimes when I receive samples the company also include a voucher, which is an extra added bonus!


These are what I bought today for Maxwell whilst on a shopping trip! I bought him the bigger size (12-18 months) so he has time to grow into them but also know he will get wear out of them! I brought him the jeans, the shorts, the boots and the cardigan - worth £20 but we managed to scrape it together for £8. The T-shirt and matching shorts were £7 reduced to £3!
Most of our clothes are in the sale, I refuse to pay more than £5 a item unless it is really necessary to!
Ben is more into designer clothes, however we still manage to shop around for bargains at our local designer outlets and big sales where there is sometimes up to 75% off!
I also shop around for the cheapest place to buy such things like his vests and baby-grows. Supermarkets are all very competitive but are great for these little necessary pieces!

Last but not least - we love charity shops! The amount of bargains we have found in there since setting up our home and little toys for Maxwell is amazing!
The things you see in the picture are all like new and the play mat and the toy cube actually came in its original packaging - these 4 items have cost us no more than around £6.50.
We are lucky that in our local village there are around 6 charity shops so when we visit the village we take a peek into the shops and see what we can find!